Almost There

            You have no idea how relieved I am in to turn in the final draft of my research paper! But after hitting send, it hit me how close I am to the end of this fellowship. Even though, there is A LOT more to do, it is now becoming more and more real to me the opportunity I have and the experience I’m about to embark on, putting together my presentation and speaking at a United Nations conference. I’m also excited to bring my presentation back to North Carolina and the community at Duke, hopefully successfully advocating for incarcerated women, WomenNC, and this amazing fellowship I’ve gotten to participate in. Finding out that I was a 2015 UN CSW Fellow in October feels at the same time like yesterday and forever ago because the weeks have flown by, but in that time, I have grown so much and learned so much. I know these next weeks leading up till the UN CSW will also go by just as quickly.

            I’m already trying to come up with ways to continue this experience even after the fellowship is formally over. How can I take what I’ve learned and what I’ve accomplished and continue to grow in my social consciousness but also contribute in some tangible way to the issues facing the most marginalized women and girls all over the world? I know I have said this in an earlier post, but this fellowship has really given me the launch pad I need to be a true advocate for women and girls.

- Mina